I am freelance modeling an area of the Santa Fe R.R. resembling the Cajon Pass area. Stupid as it sounds I can’t find any pictures of end of the track bumpers (as used at the end of yard tracks). I want to subsitute my Atlas stock bumpers with custom made ones made from rail sections, with steel plates I recently purchased at a train show. How close is that to prototype? How are they painted, or are they just rusty? Any assistance will be greatly appreciated.
I have never seen end-of-track bumpers similar to the Atlas stock bumpers except on stub-end passenger track in a major terminal. Where I grew up, I recall an industry spur with a pile of dirt at the end to stop a rolling car.
Well I’ve seen several of them on the NS. Even the old rail variety. I have a picture, but off the top of my head I want to say that it is painted orange. I think that railroads use what is available and if you looked hard enough then you could find an example. I’ve also seen many of the dirt piles.
HTH
They would definately be painted
I’ve seen a number of the “bent rail” bumpers, and they’ve always been painted orange. The paint was never fresh, rather old and chalky, giving them a very pale orange, almost peachy color. Some have been left unpainted so long that they looked mostly rusty with patches of paint coming through.
The other 2 styles that I’ve seen often are I beam steel, usually painted yellow, for what ever reason, and then the smaller wheel stops, cast iron, painted orange or red.
There are a few areas around here with dead end tracks. I’ll see if I can get a few pictures of the bumper stops for you.
Rey